Intervention Strategies in Foreign Language Planning

The American foreign language system, far from being resistant to change, is in a constant state of flux. One of the geniuses of the American system is that decision making is almost totally dispersed and experimentation and innovation are constantly taking place. Mechanisms for making these changes cumulative and their effect widespread are relatively weak. Moreover, these changes only occasionally affect the overall architecture of the system, and basic dissatisfaction with the results of that system remain. There are, however, a number of attempts to intervene in the system to make basic changes. These interventions have taken a variety of forms, directed by actors including state governments, faculty review committees at colleges and universities, the federal government, and private foundations. This article also discusses the most common targets of intervention by various federal and private funding projects. All of the project-specific interventions share a set of problems that limit their effectiveness. The principal problems characteristic of project-style interventions are reviewed.